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Topic ClosedLooking to buy a Clubman...

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Rich on Camano View Drop Down
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Joined: December/07/08
Location: Camano Island
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Looking to buy a Clubman...
    Posted: December/07/08 at 5:30am

I've had a 2003 PT Cruiser 2.4L 5-Speed as my daily driver for the last five years.  It's getting tired, and I'm seriously considering a Mini Cooper Clubman 6-spd.  I've read a number of reviews and looked around on the web for info.  This is what I've gathered so far:

1) Clubman seems like a very practical and fun vehicle.  One of the things I like most about my PT is the ability to fold down all the seats and have essentially a mini-van.  Obviously the Clubman is not quite as roomy, but still seems to offer this same sort of flexibility.  And it's a Mini, therefore a much better way to spend the 2 hrs I'm in the car each day...
 
2) Seems most folks do a custom order vs buying off the lot.  Other than the wait I really like this idea.  Great to get exactly what you want and customized as well.

3) Delivery time expected to be 6-10 weeks of late depending on options.

4) I'm on Camano Island, 90 min north of Seattle.  NW Mini appears to be the dealer in the area.  I can live with this for buying, but getting down there for regular serivce of potential warranty work would be a hassle.  I going to have to think this one through carefully...

5) When I check out the NW Mini site and look at the secection they have on the lot, the sticker prices are about 40% higher than the MSRP when I do a custom build on the MINI North America website.  Is it possible that in this economic environment, MINI NW is able to charge this sort of dealer markup or is this normal car dealer buisiness as usual.
 
Any info or observations on these topics would be most appreciated.  TIA.
 
Best Regards and glad to have stubbled on this outstanding forum,
 
Rich Johnson
Camano Island, WA


Edited by kristin - December/28/08 at 1:18pm
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Coopdy View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/07/08 at 6:20am
Hi, Welcome to the club and kudos for thinking about the Clubman.  I've had mine for 3 weeks and I love it!

To answer your questions (and I'm sure others will contribute their own experience as well)

1) I find the room sufficient for me.  On a daily basis I certainly do not use much of the room.  However, I have two dogs (one whom is large) and recently my husband and I went to Mt Hood with the dogs and the luggage and found that we all easily had enough room.

2/3) If you don't mind the wait I would recommend customizing the build so that you get everything just as you want it and you don't pay for things you really did not want or are not in any budget you may have for the car.  I am actually shocked that your wait would be 6-10 weeks.  The car spends a week being built, then catches a boat (mine waited 10 days fr the boat), takes 3 weeks on the water and then is shipped from CA to WA.  With my initial wait (waiting for a production slot) all in it took 4.5 months...perhaps they have more available slots than when I ordered (late June).

4) This might help:  NW MINI is building a dealership in Seattle, on Lake City Way (under a mile from my house, whoot!)

5) I am not sure about the markup, the 40% seems really high.  They may be adding a lot of extras that are not including in your build? That percentage seems unrealistic...

Have you test driven one?  Definitely need to do so if you have not.  That completely sold me and any car I test drove after just paled in comparison.  The car is utter joy to drive and I look forward to opportunities to drive it!

Happy shopping and feel free to ask us questions along the way -- I certainly had my share during the process!

Rachel
Rachel

'09 DS Clubman S/LSD/Convenience/Cold Weather/Premium/"No holes" license plate & stubby antenna

Deposit down June 29 / Pickup Nov 14

Happily Motoring Since
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Vader View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/07/08 at 8:07am
I went from a '68 Bug to a '06 Convertible to a '08 Clubman.  I love the room ... the Clubman has all the fun of the convertible with the benefits of extra leg and storage room.
 
Rachel is right on with her feedback.  A few notes about the stickers at NW MINI - they usually have lots of "extras" added - accessories, clear bra, etc.  In addition, there is a $695 Dealer Markup.  I bought mine off the lot instead of waiting - I got a few more items than I originally thought I wanted/needed, but have to say  I love everything about the car.  One of the surprising options is the Convenience Package.  I love not having to dig through pockets/purse for my keys to lock and unlock.  Worth the price?  Can't say for sure - but since it has it, I'm definitely going to use it! 
 
Let us know what you decide.
Hit the Road Jack ...
'13 R56 PepperWhite-HIS
'13 R60 All4 Oxford Green - HERS
'80 Rover Mini MkVII-EngWh-OURS (really mine!)
('13 R56 IcedChoc-SONS)
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johnf36 View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/07/08 at 6:32pm
You might take a look over at NAM

There is a nice Nightfire and Lazer Blue up for sale for 24/25 k.
http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/marketplace/showcat.php/cat/49

1.  The Driving and passenger space is about the same and yes there is not as much cargo   space  but you do have cool rear doors.
2.  Clubman mpg 26/34  PT Cruiser 19/24
3.  Weight 200 lbs less
4.  North West Mini does work things out for the scheduled services
5.  PT Cruiser  is only here because of BMW
6.  There is no shame in adoption

John


If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.

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nicknbecka View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/08/08 at 3:37am
Hi Rich!

Always nice to see someone from further North :)

We chose a Mini to ease the commuting pain a bit, sounds like you do a lot of driving too. If you decide to custom order and spend two hours in the car each day, it's worth checking out the heated seats. The HID headlights are also really nice on the darker roads up here.

We haven't had much trouble with getting the service done- we already commute to Seattle during the week and their schedule is much more open on weekdays, so I drop the car off the night before service and get a loaner for a day or two, then pickup once it's complete. They're usually okay with being a few hundred miles early for service and try to make allowances for people driving a long way. The service intervals are a long ways apart too, ours ended up being ~20k, but average seems to be in the 15k range.
2007 AB/AB MCS w/ Chrome Line
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Rich on Camano View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/08/08 at 1:13pm
Thanks for the quick and valuable feedback.  Hearing they're planning a dealership further north certainly helps my decision.  That being said, with some of the support options NW Mini offers, working out of the Fife location would probably still be doable.  I think the next step is getting down there for a test drive and some serious conversation.  I've spent a bit more time on the factory website exploring the build options.  I agree heated sport seats are probably on my want list.  We have these in my wife's Honda and love them.
 
I'd also like to do a little more research on reliability.  I'm pretty big on preventative maintenance, but I do put ~30k on my commuter each year.  I'd like a car with high likelyhood of making it to 150k+ without major trouble.  I'm a little disappointed in the Crusier, in that at about 95k it really started to nickle and dime us.  If I find out Mini has decent long-term reliability to go with the style, performance, and miliage I'm there dude.
 
Thanks again,
 
Rich
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nicknbecka View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/09/08 at 12:56am
It may be a bit tough to find long-term reliability on the current version of the cars, with the changeover to the Prince engine/turbo in early 07, there's not too many people with heavy mileage around. For what it's worth, we crossed 50k in almost exactly a year from our pickup date and have had almost zero issues.

Rough pavement like the northbound stretch of I-5 between Seattle and Northgate now brings out some minor dash buzzing. We had a warranty repair where the sunroof would stick if it is really warm inside the car and another warranty repair at the same time to address some excessive rattling on a cold start.

Some dieseling sound when the engine is first started is normal in the S model, and the direct fuel injection noise (also kind of diesel engine sounding) took a bit to get used to.

So far, so good for us- I used to pick up used cars and drive them until they need to be buried (so far they've all gone past ~260k) so I'm really hoping taking good care of ours from the start will keep my average up Smile
2007 AB/AB MCS w/ Chrome Line
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